Peeta's love the beginning
by mads4alltimelow
Summary: Many years later, after the rebellion, Peeta finds himself reminiscing his love and relaying it to his children. It's a story on how his love started as a kid - from the very beginning.


In the end, I never thought my one wish would come true. Love. My love. Her long brown, braided hair swinging around as she played with the little ones. "Daddy tell us a story!" the kids cried out. I thought of all the stories to tell, why not tell it from the very beginning.

"The bell rang and my father told me to run along before I was late to my kindergarten class. As I sat down at my seat, I looked toward the door to where my teacher was pointing. "Boys and Girls, this is Katniss Everdeen. She was in a different class but is now joining us for the rest of the year." I thought to myself _How could I have never seen this girl before. _She had 2 little braids and dark brown hair. I was lucky because she sat in front of me. Since my father had always told me to be a gentleman when it comes to girls, I stood up and pulled out her chair for her to sit down. She looked at me funny at first but then smiled and nodded her head in thanks. The way she smiled at me made something inside of me melt as if I had seen an angel. Now I was only 5 but I still, to this day, believe in love at first sight. I kept trying to work up the courage to talk to her until one day I went up to her on the playground and asked "Katniss? Would you want to play later? Maybe we could paint or something?" She had this confused look on her face before she said "Oh. You're Peter right? Sorry I'm going with some other kids to play hunter." She ran off so fast I couldn't even say goodbye or see you later or anything of the sorts. _It's Peeta. Not Peter or anything else. Peeta. How could she not even know my name! _I went home and did my chores. My father asked how my day was and I asked him about love. "Well love is a complicated thing, why do you ask Peeta?" I looked down at my shoes and then back up at him. "There's this new girl to my class and I don't know what it is about her, but I can't get her out of my mind." He sat down with me on his lap and told me "Son, let me put it to you this way. Love is like a sunflower. Delicate, but has the power to bloom with a bright, fiery passion. The sun has the power to shape and choose the direction of the sunflower just like the people in love do." I hopped off of his lap and the next morning, I picked a whole bouquet of sunflowers. When I got to school I watched her hug her dad and skip inside. She sat at her desk and I tapped her on the shoulder so I could give her the sunflowers. The Second I did, the teacher told us that we had a music assembly. In the assembly, the teacher asked who knew the valley song. Katniss' hand shot right up in the air. The teacher stood her up on a stool and had her sing it for us. And I swear, every bird outside the windows fell silent...and right when her song ended, I knew I was a goner. At recess, I gave her the flowers and she just smiled. _No thank you? Nothing? Only a smile? What am I doing wrong?_ "Katniss, wanna be friends?" She just stared at me and said "I'm not good at making friends so I play by myself." I was surprised at how such a girl could not have as many friends possible. "But wait, Katniss, I thought you played hunter with the other kids yesterday?" She looked down at her shoes and told me "I decided to play with plants with my dad. Thanks for the flowers. See you around Peter." "It's actually Peeta, not Peter." She giggled and then walked away with her flowers. Every day, from then on, I watched her play by herself and sing songs with her dad when they walked by the bakery. My mother grew angry with me because, instead of doing chores, I would stare out the window hoping she would come into the store. As time grew on I felt her slipping away more and more. Her 2 braids became one and her little sister started coming to school with her. She still didn't play with anyone; She only looked after her sister. The one day she didn't attend school was when tragedy struck the mines and their family as well as many others. She was outrageously close with her father and it was sad to see him go so early on. When I turned 11 years old, I was old enough to frost the icing on the cakes. I enjoyed it because Katniss' little sister, Prim, loved them and would always beg to walk by the display window. It was sad how she instantly forgot who I was. I wasn't going to give up on her though. Every day, I would watch her walk home from school. Every day. She was big into hunting and I watched her at the hob take newly, skinned meat and trade it. Not long after she started hunting in the woods outside the fence, another person came on the scene. Gale. The way she looked at him and smiled. He helped take care of her family. _If only I knew how to hunt I could help her out too. What could she possibly see in him anyway? He's tall and can hunt. He looks after her family. Not to mention he's not blonde. _I thought how maybe if I weren't blonde then maybe she'd like me.

~ "Wait Daddy, you thought that mommy didn't like you because you didn't have the same color hair?"

"Little Primrose, I was a young kid and in love. You'll understand when you're older. Now as I was saying…."

I couldn't get her out of my mind. One rainy day, I was helping my parents with the chores in the bakery. I kneaded the dough and put it in the oven. While waiting for it to cook and rise, I sat by the window and daydreamed about if she would ever notice me again. _Mrs. Katniss Mellark. Katniss and Peeta Mellark or Katniss Everdeen-Mellark. But it's just Katniss and Gale-the hunters. That's all it'll ever be. _The sound of the oven door slam shut snapped me out of my daydream. I turned around to see my mother had slammed the bread on the counter. It was burned. She ran over to me and I was scolded. My ear had to pay for the burned bread and, after I'd been hit, I was told to feed it to the pigs. Mad with anger, I walked outside in the rain and fed it to the pigs but as I turned around, someone was under the tree. The rain was coming down so hard I could barely see.

~ "Who was it daddy!"

"You'll find out"

…It was her. Katniss. Frail and thin in need of food. Without a second guess, I tossed her the bread and walked away. To this day, I regret not walking out to her and personally giving it to her. But we ended up getting even because then a long while later she fed me … but that's a totally different story. It made me feel really special, though, to know I helped her out even if it was just tossing her burnt bread. I never lost hope after that. We fell in love, at first, for survival. It became unclear whether the love would last and turn into a reality but in the end, she married me and we, now, have the 2 most wonderful kids anyone could ever ask for."

I smiled at my family and we sat in the grass looking up at the sky. I thought to myself _how could I have such a wonderful family. I fell, and still am, in love with the woman of my dreams. _After everything we had been through with the games and the rebellion and all of the deaths, we were now free. As free as mockingjays.


End file.
